The Golden 80s

 I am not a big fan of India's prime time debates, especially those by the so-called national media. I still scour the print media for news and editorial views and social media for comments (both valid and stupid).  To me, most of the prime time debates are just one-sided cacophony and in a democracy like India these unprofessional conduct should have been regulated and punished long back. It may be the case that as a trained journalist, I can research more on the fare dished out and check facts and fake news by all forms of news media.  Such a luxury may not be available to all viewers and they then become the primary victims of targeted propaganda through social media.  Against this background, I was not at all surprised at the belligerence in which the anchor at NDTV was shouted at by an 'expert'. The discussion was about the booming stock market amidst a tanked economy and a pandemic.  Stock markets are not the best indicators of an economy . So it is ridic...

How will you identify whether a news link, an image or video that you have received from your friend on Facebook or Whatsapp is fake or not? The SMELL test will help you check whether hundreds of messages circulating as news on various media is fake or not.  The SMELL test involves the following: S is for Source: Does  the news story mention the source of the news. From where did the reporter get the news. Have they quoted anyone? M is for Motivation : What exactly is the motivation? Is it to inform the reader or is it to mislead people? Is it to create a controversy, tarnish someone's image or to affirm our bias? E is for Evidence . What evidence is provided for supporting the news? Is there any contrary opinion provided or is there is any scope for a different angle? L is for Logic . Does the news look nonsensical? Is it just statement of facts or is there any editorializing? Are certain facts hyped to assert the writer's viewpoint?? L is for Left out...